One of Danny Willett’s first tasks as Masters champion was to change the nappy of his 15-day old son, who can already be backed to follow in his father’s footsteps.
“That was one of the first jobs when you get back,” said Willett. “Kiss the wife, change a nappy, that’s the order in which it goes.”
Willett’s wife Nicole had been due to give birth to the couple’s first child on Sunday, but Zachariah James Willett arrived early to allow his proud new father to play in the year’s first major championship.
The 28-year-old was the 89th and last player to register after only arriving at Augusta on Monday, but took advantage of a dramatic collapse from defending champion Jordan Spieth to claim the famous green jacket.
Told that Zachariah was rated a 1000/1 shot (by Sky Bet) to win a major himself, Willett told Press Association Sport: “Is he really? I’m not allowed to bet on golf but if I was I might have a little dabble!
“I wouldn’t have thought we’d be pushing him into anything he doesn’t want to do. If he picks up a golf club and is any good at it then fine… might bang a set of skis on his feet and see if he’s any good at that as well.
“It’s all exciting. He’s still only 15 days old. Never mind the golf, but it’s still surreal to think about what he could do in his lifetime. Still a little bit more special than anything I’ve been able to do over the last few days.
“It’s going to be great now. I was always planning to have four weeks off so it’s fallen fantastically well that I can put everything to the side and really enjoy spending time with Nic and Zach and getting back to normal routines before flying off to the Players Championship, where I’m sure throughout the golfing world it’s going to be a bit crazy again.”
Equally crazy was the response to Willett’s brother Peter and his running commentary on the final round on Twitter, including one post which read: “I once punched that kid in the head for hurting my pet rat.”
Speechless.
— P J Willett (@P_J_Willett) April 10, 2016
I once punched that kid in the head for hurting my pet rat.
Now look.#bbcgolf #TheMasters
“My two older brothers had pet rats when we were kids,” Willett explained. “I don’t what he meant about that, I’m sure I never hurt it. I might have let it out once or twice to see if it would run off but I didn’t think I ever hurt it.
“I’ve read through the tweets, they are pretty funny but I don’t think anyone expected it to take off the way it has. He hasn’t got more followers than me but he’s got a hell of a lot more than most people I know.”
Willett’s wife Nicole also achieved a certain amount of fame when her husband was captured trying to speak to her using FaceTime in the immediate aftermath of his victory.
“It was a bit embarrassing because no-one looks good on Facetime do they?” Nicole said on Wednesday at Lindrick Golf Club. “I could see him on TV FaceTiming me and then the comment ‘Can I ring you on a landline?’ I didn’t get to talk to him properly.
“It’s amazing having him back and being able to celebrate instead of a few broken conversations because obviously he was busy and I was busy at home.
“To have him back last night was lovely, to shut the door and wind down and have a normal conversation as well as screaming at each other that he’s won the Masters.
“We’re looking forward to getting back into normal life. We don’t know how much has changed because it’s only been a couple of days and this is the first time we have left the house.
“We are expecting it to change but at home when the door is locked everything will stay the same so looking forward to that.”
